Month: December 2017

We hope you have had a lovely holiday surrounded by the hope, joy, love, and peace of Christ. If you missed our Christmas services, check back this afternoon for the message video.

This week, you will notice a brief break from posting on the blog. When we pick up next week, Pastor Aaron will lead us taking a deeper look at the example of Stephen from Acts 6-7.

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Have you ever wanted to see Living Word and the expansion from a bird’s eye view? One of our ministry partners captured this view from a recent Sunday morning and we want to share it with you!

Don’t forget to bring a friend to church in the new year! This could be the beginning of a lifelong journey – the best resolution anyone could ever make.

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10 Things I Love About the Christmas Season by Lisa Long

1. Anticipating Christmas. I love to read through a different Advent devotional each year. It really helps set the tone for the whole season.
2. Watching Christmas movies with the family, even though they refuse to watch It’s a Wonderful Life with me! The Muppet Christmas Carol is my second favorite (it’s surprisingly true to Dickens).
3. Listening to Christmas music (AFTER Thanksgiving). I’ve always loved the traditional Christmas carol, We Three Kings. A newer favorite is Mary Did You Know?
4. Eating peppermint bark. Homemade or store-bought, it’s all good.
5. Sitting by the fireplace, with the only illumination coming from the flames and candles.
6. Wrapping gifts. I really do enjoy it—especially in combination with #3, #4, and #5.
7. Having all of our young adults under one roof again (however briefly).
8. Watching the snow fall.
9. Attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service. This service is always so meaningful and makes me think of all the other Christians throughout the world who are celebrating Jesus’ birth along with us.
10. Spending Christmas Day with my Mom, Dad, and extended family. We’ll have 19 people at my parents’ house this year!

My prayer for you this Christmas …

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Today, get to know the 7 favorite Christmas traditions and experiences of Adam Dacheux.

1. The smell of a fresh cut pine tree in the house. Or in our case this year, a crooked parking lot pine tree. Never again.
2. The seemingly endless flow of cookies and sweets.
3. Hearing my favorite Christmas song, O Holy Night.
4. Being reunited with distant family.
5. Giving and receiving presents.
6. A white Christmas is always a special treat. A wet Christmas, not so much.
7. The stillness that Christmas Day can bring . . . where the constant hum of a busy world ceases for a moment and our only focus is being with the ones we love.

May the spirit of God surround your homes and loved ones as you gather and celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas.

Adam

P.S. And a special blessing to those who face the daunting task of freeing that new toy from its packaging, untwisting and chopping through the many straps that hold it in its cardboard jail. Godspeed to you!

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Today, get to know the 13 favorite Christmas traditions and experience by Jay Baer.

Jay Baer, Pulse Director (Grades 7 & 8) and student::life Worship Director

1. Christmas music on repeat from the moment the Macy’s Parade ends until well into January. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the form of a full orchestra, an electric guitar solo, a pop vocal, or a soft croon—I love every last note.
2. The smell of Christmas cookies baking in the oven and the extra encouragement to hit the gym that they bring as I devour them.
3. I love gift giving. Finding the perfect gift for a person and seeing their excitement is better than anything I could receive.
4. Reading Advent devotionals and appreciating that time of waiting and patience are often some of my deepest times with God.
5.  Driving around and looking at Christmas light displays on a cold winter night.
6. Hanging out of the second story window of my house like Spiderman trying to make my own Christmas light display.
7. Walking around New York City at Christmas time with my wife Abby, especially visiting the tree at Rockefeller Center where I proposed 10 years ago this year!
8. Every year on December 23 I

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Today, we are happy to have another guest blogger in our new Christmas favorites series with Diana sharing the 10 things she loves most about the Christmas season.

Diana Kleinmanns, Worship Leader

1. Spending time with family. I don’t get to go home to New Jersey too often, so it’s always a sweet time when everyone is together!
2. Gift giving. I LOVE giving gifts! However, I find it difficult to keep exciting secrets/surprises, so Christmas morning is a huge relief for me.
3. Christmas lights. On your house, on your trees, IN your house, everywhere! (Secret: I have Christmas lights hung in my apartment year-round).
4. The emotions of the season. There’s just a tangible sense of excitement, joy, hope, longing, peace, and love in the air during the Christmas season.
5. Drinking hot chocolate, my favorite! The more marshmallows the better.
6. Having a fully decorated tree in my living room.
7. All the food. No one expects you to eat well over the Christmas season. It’s a free pass.
8. Watching my cats play in the boxes, wrapping paper, ribbon, etc. under the tree on Christmas morning.
9. Watching Christmas movies with my family. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a favorite. “That nose! That beautiful, wonderful

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